Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Friends and Foes: A Neo-Force Adventure ❯ The Beggining ( Chapter 1 )

First chapter.. Now, things get better..

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Friends and Foes:

A Neo-Force Adventure

Chapter One:

The Beggining

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"What was the start of all this?

When did the cogs of fate begin to turn?

Perhaps it is impossible to grasp that answer now,

from deep within the flow of time...

But, for a certainty, back then.

We loved so many,

yet hated so much,

we hurt others and were hurt ourselves...

Yet even then we ran like the wind

Whilst our laughter echoed,

Under cerulean skies..."

Schala, Chrono Cross.

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Airship Conqueror, Control Room. The sky over Takla Makan Desert. The Present.

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-Captain.. -begun Lt. J.G. Kimmer Lucas, handling the steer on the ship's control bridge.- Sir, the sky is pretty calm..

-That's how it's supposed to be, mister Lucas. -answered the ego-inflated captain Mosag Darlian, from the captain's seat.- We're currently flying over dead earth, not a house nor person in thousands of feet away. Our charge is safe here.

Lucas doubted. Before anything, he considered himself a fair man. In the moment he signed the army's recruit form, he never thought he would have to transport higly-toxical and contaminating garbage over empty land. That was against his feelings: Planet Earth had required plenty years to recover to its original form after the disaster, and it was just unfair to ruin it again. Besides, it was quite stupid that the high bosses sent a full war ships squad just for that. Nothing more than a show-off.

You should stop it, a voice said. His eyes wide open, Lucas twisted his head left, then right. None of his partners, situated in a half-moon shaped control panel, seemed to have noticed it. Were those his own toughts? Was he really that upset? The voice laughed.

No use looking around for me. Let's say I am like your conscience, ok? Now, do the right thing would be pretty easy. You just turn the self-destruction on, take a parachute, jump before the explosion, and that's it. If you're discovered, you can blame the Oblivion mercenaries. What if they are in their way for attack?

-What if they are on their way for attack? -repeated Lucas, in a pretty audible tone. The conscience had a point. Darlian stood up on his seat to look at him, just like half-dozen of the crew, their attention caught by the unexpected comment.- Sir, the Oblivion mercenaries. What if they are on their way for attack?

Darlian let out a laugh, that echoed with everybody else's.

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Takla Makan Desert, Ground Backup Team.

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-Well, Roma, how did Macbeth's idea worked out? -asked Karla Eagle, who was sat on a ground-vehicle's roof, with a giggle between the words, seeing her buddy snapping out of her psychic trance.

-Well.. it didn't worked at all -Karla giggled louder-. Pilot refused manipulation. Aerial Team will have to do all the work -answered the cheerful, always-confident voice of Roma Fenril, who was lying against the vehicle's side.

Both were fully equipped for combat. Among with her usual short skirt and blouse, Roma was wearing a shining steel belt, carrying a pair of Vad .40 guns on the sides. Little energy currents ran trough the belt from time to time, as a live, pulsing organ.

As for Karla, she was dressed from feet to neck on a black leather suit, complete with a crystal-pointed baton across her back. The smile the girl showed didn't diminish her dark appearance a bit.

-I bet you four hundred credits that they finish before ten minutes -she said, passing from her sitted position to lying flat on the roof, looking at the now empty sky.

-Let's say five hundred and it's a deal. -answered Roma, looking up as well.- That pilot seemed competent.

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-Attack? -answered the captain between laughter.- I think you have been piloting for too much time, Lucas! Why would somebody attack us, in the first place? In second place, it would need full ground and air support for a full-scaled army and a communications disabler to take down our five ships. Why would somebody take all that job? -Darlian let out another laugh, wich was almost inmediately interrupted by a alarm.- Aaron, what is it?

-Well.. -answered Lt. Aaron Leksam, who was looking his panel, switching the alarm off- It may be a technical failure, sir, but we lost all contact with the rear ship, Sorceress 3. -Leksam pulsed a button and spoke to the intercom- Sorceress 3, anyone there? Sorceress 3, answer!

Atmosphere tensed inmediately.

-Ha! Those idiots probably just dropped orange juice over the control panel or something -said Darlian, laughing again over Aaron's callings, tough much more false than before.

Obligued by the non-written army rules, Lucas tried laughing with everyone else.

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-Sorceress 3, answer! -shouted the intercom. Pushing away a corpse that blocked it, a robed figure turned it off.

Its face was covered by a black hood. There was three weapons on the belt under his vest: a small and brilliant dagger, and two silver-bladed scimitars. A black cape was hung now over his broad shoulders.

There was five more figures beside him. A medic, with a Dragoon Spear, was now healing a small shot on the shoulder of a partner, whose blade was bloodied.

-Well done, it was getting annoying -said a young man, who was sitting on the pilot's seat. Behind him, a gigantic figure was sitten in the floor, as if being on a combat airship between dead people was an everyday's thing.

And for them, it was.

-Throwing their garbage to mother earth.. -begun the only woman on the group, who was taking an arrow out of one of the corpses.- Can we hurry? I'm not feeling too good..

-We'll get out soon -answered the hurted one, checking his small wound, now almost healed.- We just go from ship to ship, to the Ground Team's recovery point.

-That idiot in the first ship is gonna get it! -said the pilot, tough only he and the girl laughed.

-Let's continue -said the robed one. The pilot nodded and pulled the ship forward and closer to the next ship.

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Interlude

Oblivion Citadel, Recreative Crystal.

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-Leon! -called Megumi, watching the instructor lying on the grass that covered the entire area.

The young Leonhart instructor couldn't hold a whine when he felt seventy pounds of Megumi falling over his stomach.

-Hold it.. you're Hakuno's sister, right? Are you Megumi?

-Yup, that's me! -yelled her cheerfully- And you're Squall Leonhart, better known as "Leon" in Oblivion after the Ultimecia affair, expert on handling the gunblade and Commander of Oblivion Storm, and ex-SeeD leader.

-Hey.. Aren't you a smart little girl.. -said Leon, lifting her with both arms. A second later, he was horrorized.

Megumi's eyes had given a electric-blue glow.

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Takla Makan Desert, Ground Backup Team.

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-Hey.. hey, Roma! Is that them? -asked Karla, pointing at the sky.

-I don't know.. from this distance, it seems like fat pigeons to me.. -answered Roma, with a tired voice.

It had been a long wait, and none of them was happy with their mission role. Both lying over teh vehicle's roof, they were now waiting for a fighter's signal.

-Say, Karla.. -started Roma- How did it feel.. when Sentaurus possessed you?

This was an unexpected and real difficult question.

-Sorry.. I-I shouldn't..

-Well.. I didn't feel anything. You see, when you are possessed, you lose all sense of reality -explained Karla. The experience had been terrible, but talking of it, she could took it out- A possessed person unfolds a new personality, but always under the possessor control. On my case, I remember being on my house, with Diego, Gabriel, and our parents, and suddenly, I'm years later with all of you. Now, I keep all my memories, but they aren't very nice. -Karla made a pause, staring at one point- Is that them?

Because of the intense sun, Roma had closed her eyes.

-Less than three?

-Hmm.. yes. -answered Karla, with a hand over her eyes.

-Flying in formation?

-Yeah.

-Leaving behind a white smoke line?

-Uh-huh.

-One is falling and the other one gets closer to the leader?

-Yup!

Roma stood up, proceeding to look at the sky, too.

-Hey, it is them! -Roma lift up her left hand to her mouth, talking to her bracelet.- Nadia, get ready! They are about to finish!

-You owe me five hundred credits -said Karla as she stood up taking her baton.

-it has only been eight and a half minutes, it's all on the last ship now -answered Roma, concentrating again.

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-All four ship's communications gone, sir! -said Aaron, now in an alarming tone.

The air in Conqueror's cabin was not any relaxed now. The crew had very little combat training, and their weaponry was little and old.

-Well..-begun Darlian, in what pretended to be a hopeful voice- that just means that the same failure affected all ships.

Then, something unexpected happened. To the Conqueror's left, the second ship, Empire, was moving closer to them, turning on and off their emergency green lights.

-Told you! -jumped Darlian inmediately- Lucas, get closer to them, too.

The voice in Lucas's head spoke again.

Don't! At least, take some time, like a couple of minutes or more, what's the rush?Because.. well.. they.. they must be mercenaries! Yeah, that's it!

-But sir, thay may be mercenaries! -said Lucas, confused to see his conscience doubting. A second later, he knew that was the wrong thing to say.

-One month paycheck less, Lucas! Now, get close, dammit! -roared Darlian.

Great. No ring now, and no more candlelight dinner. Lucas was never going to get married.. Stupid conscience, he tought. Hey, don't try to blame me! I only told you to save time, the rebel part was all yours!, was the inmeadiate answer.

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Everyone in Empire's control room could see the Conqueror's answer. The leader ship had drawn close, turning on the green lights.

-A little delay.. Roma, you had something to say about that? -asked the robed figure. You think I would be capable of that? Answered a voice in his head.- Yes, I do. Alright, this Is the last one and we're homefree.

-Yeah, yeah, brace yourselves.. again -answered the pilot, turning the controls suddenly to the right.

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The Conqueror's crew saw it coming, but didn't believed it at first. And now it was too late for dodging maneuvers.

-They are attacking! -yelled Lucas, trying a hopeless right-turn. The Neo-Force.- The Neo-Force are attacking!

-What did you just say? What are the Neo--? -begun Darlian, but his last words were lost by all the noise caused by the Empire's side-ramming. The ship's side armor broke out, leaving a smokey hole, wich some of the crew pointed with their weapons.

Through the smoke, some arrows came forth, hitting aimfully over the chest, forehead or neck of a few soldiers. Disgusted, Darlian and Lucas pulled their look away from Leksam, who had an arrow crossing his head from front to back. Returning the view to the ship's hole, the smoke had vanished, allowing an image that went from incredible..

..to impossible.

There was six persons standing over it. The first one by the left was a giant, with both fists up. With his bald head and red eyes, his face only showed fury. It seemed he was emanating a lot of heat, as some metal around him was beggining to melt. Next one was apparently a human, who carried a strange weapon, like a fusion of gun and blade. His hair, very short and brown, seemed to combine with his determined look. It seemed the arrows had come out of the bow the girl next to him was carrying. Featuring a green dress and blonde hair, among with pointy ears, she seemed totally out of place, as if someone had cut her out of a fairytale. Standing next to her, it was a boy with blue hair, who was in a pose of kung-fu movie star, complete with a nunchaku tensed in his hands. The arms, lookable by a sleeve-less shirt, were muscled and athletic, crossed with veins. A young man, with a strangely gentle look was pointing the crew with a spear. The sadness on his blue eyes denoted he was not too happy with combat. Which seemed to be the leader of the crowd was standing at the center, with a black hood covering his face.

-Who.. who are you?! -yelled Darlian. The leader downed back his hood, revealing a light-browned face, with long and black hair. A silver ring gleamed on his left ear. As if every light on the room was cutten off, every member of the crew tremble when he spoke.

-We are Neo-Force. Field Commander, Diego Eagle.

-Swordsman and second-at-command, Alexander Prime -stated the gublade bearer.

-Creator and archer, Sabrina Stabella -spoke the girl, taking aim but without shooting.

-Medic, first level, Alyosha Hakuno -said the young man who carried the spear.

-S..Sergei Dominus -said the giant slowly, as if it was a hard work for him.

-Edge Dominus -spoke finally the nunchaku bearer, switching his look from person to person.

Lucas was now terrified. Not only his conscience had been right, but these people, tough children yet, were intimidating. Taking a decision, he lift up his service rifle, aimed to the leader's head, and shooted before anyone could stop it.

The bullet would have probably killed him, but it was eaten by a black portal just before it made contact. When the portal vanished, the leader hadn't even blinked.

-Now, as you see, you can't kill us. Okey -Diego took out from his pocket a small paper sheet, where some paragraphs had been written by hand, taking out glasses and beggining to read-. Ahem. We know your black box is recording. Our client, an ecologist organization that would prefere to stay anonymous, had paid us to leave the clear message that what you are doing results in heavy damage to the planet and must be highly punished.

This was no-sense for Darlian.

-What are you saying, son? -he cried- If you have a complain, take it to the high bosses, we are only transport soldiers!

-Well.. -said Diego deeply, forming a ball with the paper and throwing it away- Our intelligence expects this to leave the clear message to them -he then turned to his teammates-. Leave. I'll handle this.

The Neo-Forces nodded, everyone dissapearing in a black portal, leaving Diego alone with the crew. Diego took out his scimitars, one of them reading "Masa", and the other "Mune". That was the signal for everyone to discharge their weapons on him, but it was no use: every bullet was either dodged, deflected by the blades, or eaten by another small portal with faster-than-eye speed.

Diego sighed when their ammo run out. He had given them the chance to defend themselves, and they didn't made it. Taking both scimitars in one hand, he lifted the hand free and pointed to another side of the ship. A blast of dark energy erupted form it, leaving a hole in that side of the ship, that began to rumble because of the wind and the strong vacuum. The crew put on their oxygen masks inmeadiately, but Diego simply walked to the hole and jumped trough it.

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Takla Makan Desert, Ground Backup Team.

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-Yeech.. that portals are so.. -begun Sabrina, stepping out of one of them, but keeping silence when finding Karla standing in front of her, concentrating, her eyes completely black.

-If you don't like them, you should have jumped -stated a bad-mood Karla: she was very busy teleporting the others.

Edge stepped out of another one.

-Hi, team! S'up? -he saluted.

-Snakes and scorpions, Edge -answered Roma, watching nervously the sky, were the ships had begun to collapse.

-Pretty hot here -said Alex, newcoming, trying to refresh his shirt. Sergei talked, surprising everybody, since he was actually the first one appearing.

-I.. like it. -he said, but no one listened. Karla was talking again to Roma.

-You owe me five hundred credits.

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The sky over Takla Makan.

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Diego had just been falling for a couple of seconds when he heard a familiar shriek: a hippogriff's. Looking to his right, he saw he was right; flapping its wings, a gray hippogriff was crossing the air towards him. But once he blinked, the majestic bird had dissapeared, leaving a girl with four wings in the back instead. He carried a katana in the back, and her gray, long hair was fluttered by the wind.

-Hello, Nadia -he saluted.

-Hi.. Mission Complete?

-Not yet, that's the only one remaining -he said, gesturing to the Conqueror. Reaching his belt, he took out the dagger, and throwed it with an arch movement towards the ship- Light Dagger, blow everything! Okay, Mission Complete. Let's return home, can't wait to see the boy..

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If Lucas, Darlian and the rest of the crew were surprised by the set of events, it was magnified when a dagger, brilliant as the sun, blasted trough the damaged ship and stayed suspended in the middle of the air. It was so beautiful that Darlian forgot all about emergency measurements and lifted a hand to touch it.

He touches it, he die.

-You touch it, you die! -warned Lucas. Darlian look him, with a furious expression behind his mask.

-Don't you dare threat me, liutenant! -he screamed, touching the dagger with the tip of the fingers.

Inmediately, golden lightning bolts spread out to every direction from its blade, blasting machines and electrocuting humans.

By the crimes of contaminating and poisoning the planet, you are condemned to death. So has spoken Neo-Force, was the last thing Lucas heard.

And with a roaring explosion, the Conqueror finished its existance.

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END OF CHAPTER ONE

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Well, that's it. I'm happy how this chapter went out. Please remember to review it! The reviews I get will be answered the next chapter, ok? See ya then!